Airvault - Saint-Pierre

Saint-Pierre was the church of one of the largest Augustinian abbeys in the Poitou, that was founded in 991 by Audéarde, the wife of viscount Herbert I of Thouars. The monastery was on one of the "chemins" of the Via Turonensis, so when the number of pilgrims increased, the Canons Regular of St. Augustine had this large church erected in two construction phases from the 12th century on. The western facade and the narthex are the youngest parts of the structure.

When the era of the pilgrimage ended, the abbey declined and impoverished during the Hundred Years' War. Most conventual buildings were destroyed in the Wars of Religion. The abbey church now serves the parish.

Approaching the facade, that follows the "blueprint" of many churches, that line the Via Turonensis in the Poitou Charente, with the central portal and the blind arches. But the facade here seems to be reconstructed and remodeled over the time, as it is not that symmetrical, as most of these portals are. On the left is a heavily damaged horseman, just like in Melle, Benet, Surgères and Parthenay.